What is best translation?

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I was listening to Catholic Answers the other day, and if I remember correctly Jimmy Akin stated that the NAB was not a very good translation. That is the translation I have been using, but if there is one that is better, I would prefer to use that. So…What is the best translation of the Latin Vulgate into English?
 
The best translation I’ve come across it the Douay Rheims Bible the language is a bit out dated and the spelling of some names is a bit odd but all in all it’s the most reliable.
 
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Fidelis:
Catholic Answers has a good short article about this:

Bible Translations Guide
catholic.com/library/Bible_Translations_Guide.asp
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Thanks! That was good!
 
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tkdnick:
I was listening to Catholic Answers the other day, and if I remember correctly Jimmy Akin stated that the NAB was not a very good translation. That is the translation I have been using, but if there is one that is better, I would prefer to use that. So…What is the best translation of the Latin Vulgate into English?
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The Vulgate is no longer the version of choice as the text on which translations are based. To use it as the basic text from which to translate, would be like using the so-called KJV - the Vulgate is itself a translation, as much as the KJV.​

So your question is really two questions. Or more.

The NAB is clumsy at times, but it’s hard to see what - apart from the notes, could bother people. Even with the best scholarship, no translation of a foreign text will be ideal - still less a translation of the entire Bible: translation of the Bible requires one to satisfy so many different sets of demands, that one can only hope for the best possible failure.

One has to keep the average reader happy, and the ecclesiastical censor, and the stylist, and the specialists in the interpretation & text of each of the books; one has to hope that one’s translation will be appropriate for the Liturgy, that it won’t upset those who are familiar woth renderings of familiar passages; that it can be used for study, devotional purposes, and so on. There will always be complaints - inevitably, because the very people who don’t know what translation involves, so cannot do it, are the ones who are severest in their criticisms.

The problem with translating the Bible, is that one will inevitably upset people - they will miss familiar renderings, and object. Yet the rendering they hear may be far closer to the underlying text than the translation they miss. The Vulgate itself was criticised for changing a translation in Jonah. One of the social functions of translation, is to comfort the & reassure the hearer and reader: but the changes are the very features that tend not to do this,

What exactly did Jimmy Akin object to ? Anything specific ?

FWIW: the Douay-Reims has not been used for about 250 years. The version commonly called by that name is the revision of it by Bishop Challoner, which has so extensively changed the DR that it is very misleading to call any Catholic Bible in English now available the DR.

Challoner’s revision has itself been edited, in England, Ireland & the USA - the Bible now known by Challoner’s name is an 1899 reprint of an edition of it. The textual history of the various editions of Challoner is exceedingly confused. The DR is what the 1899 Bible is not 🙂 ##
 
Gottle -

Ok, so which is the translation you prefer? Or which is the translation I should be using?

I don’t think JA had any specific objection, just that it wasn’t the best translation.
 
Check out the Ignatius Bible. Its a Revised Standard Version- Catholic Edition (RSV-CE). A very good bible.

You can fine it in the Bible section of the Catholic.com shop.
 
In truth, it is best to have more than one bible–several if you can afford it (a used book store is a good resource). That way you can get a breadth of translations. I use an NAB for study because it is the one used for the liturgy and most people in a Catholic bible study group will be using it. For private devotional reading, I use the aforementioned RSV-CE. It is free from distracting footnotes and the language, while not always beautiful, is mostly accurate and free from political correctness and modernizing which I, personally, don’t need or care for:
Psalm 23, NAB
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A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me;
ou restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name.
Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage.
You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.
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Psalm 23, RSV-CE
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A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
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We have a small library of bibles in our home. New International Version, Ignatius, King James ( and New King James and 1611 King James), New American Bible, Oxford Study Bible, and have had a New Jerusalem Bible before. I haven’t read any one of them in entirety, I’m sad to say, but each has its merits. Certainly the “Catholic” bibles of these would be Ignatius and New American.

Is it true that the official bible of the Catholic Church right now is the NAB? Most people agree it’s a pretty awful version by and large. I read somewhere than once the new translation of the Mass is completed, the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) will be used for the liturgy instead of the NAB. Wish I had bookmarked that source.
 
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Cherub:
Is it true that the official bible of the Catholic Church right now is the NAB?
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As I understand it, it is the approved Bible for American Catholics. Not for the entire church, and not the “official” version, just that it has been approved.
 
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Cherub:
I read somewhere than once the new translation of the Mass is completed, the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) will be used for the liturgy instead of the NAB. Wish I had bookmarked that source.
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I haven’t heard that (tho I wish it were true), although I do know that when Vatican documents are officially translated into English, the RSV-CE is used.
 
Actually, I believe the best translation will depend upon how you are using it. For reflective reading and meditation, I use the Jerome edition. For an indepth study, I believe the Amplified edition provides the greatest insight since it gives all of the possible meanings of key words in a passage. All of these additional words are disrutive for general reading, but for study purposes, I find them most helpful.
 
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Cherub:
New International Version, Ignatius, King James ( and New King James and 1611 King James), New American Bible, Oxford Study Bible, and have had a New Jerusalem Bible before. I haven’t read any one of them in entirety, I’m sad to say, but each has its merits. Certainly the “Catholic” bibles of these would be Ignatius and New American.
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I believe the New Jerusalem also is considered Catholic, and carries an impramateur. The original Jerusalem Bible is used for readings in the Diocese of Singapore.
 
Well as a non-Catholic I use and love the NASB. Like someone said above it really depends on what one needs.

I would suppose that Jimmy Aiken and other scholarly theologians do not like the NAB is because it really isn’t an accurate tit-for-tat translation. It is more a story-like telling style that relays what is meant by the verse more so then an attempt at a word for word translation. This is a good translation for those that are not involved in scholarly research and just want to read the Bible without too much effort to understand what is being said.

Direct literal translations have their place if you want to sit down with an exhaustive concordance and a Greek/Hebrew Lexicon. Literal translations are good really only for looking at the words themselves and not the meaning of the verse, because the meaning of the words employed have changed over time.

Bibles like the NASB are kind of a hybrid between the two… they try to get a balance between an understandable translation while simultaneously attempting to stay as true to the original Greek and Hebrew as possible.
 
All of the Bibles mentioned above are good. I would say just stay clear of Bibles such as the Living Bible and Good News Bible and you should be O.K.
 
This is why I recommend the Cotton Patch Version.
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Shibboleth:
Well as a non-Catholic I use and love the NASB. Like someone said above it really depends on what one needs.

I would suppose that Jimmy Aiken and other scholarly theologians do not like the NAB is because it really isn’t an accurate tit-for-tat translation. It is more a story-like telling style that relays what is meant by the verse more so then an attempt at a word for word translation. This is a good translation for those that are not involved in scholarly research and just want to read the Bible without too much effort to understand what is being said.

Direct literal translations have their place if you want to sit down with an exhaustive concordance and a Greek/Hebrew Lexicon. Literal translations are good really only for looking at the words themselves and not the meaning of the verse, because the meaning of the words employed have changed over time.

Bibles like the NASB are kind of a hybrid between the two… they try to get a balance between an understandable translation while simultaneously attempting to stay as true to the original Greek and Hebrew as possible.
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